The Phoenix
by KuroCyou
Summary: After the events in the manga, Shaoran returns to Honk Kong without telling Sakura. When he returns after some years, he brings worrying news with him. What is exactly the power Sakura holds in her hands? Read to find out... [Full "trailer" inside] SXS, a LOT of new characters. Rated T for safety. Updated really slowly. Reviews are more than welcomed!
1. Prologue

**Hello guys! This is first fanfic I've ever written, I've started it a lot of time ago and so the first chapters suck ^^; This is also the first time I try to translate something from Italian to English, so there may be some mistakes and I apologize for the bad way it's written. I'm really sorry for that (and I'm not even so good at writing, so read at your own risk). As regard the story, I must say this is mostly based on the manga events, despite the presence of Meilin in the plot. So the Cards are only those which are in the manga. For SakuXShao and drama fans! **

**Summary:** Our world may seems shrouded in absolute chaos. If we also consider that there are more worlds than one, the impression that there are no rules in the variety of the universe becomes almost a certainty. But it's not. There are certain laws which govern the worlds, laws whose violation would lead to chaos. One of these is:  
_There is no way someone who's dead can come back to life_  
The greatest wish, that sooner or later everyone has, it's also the only one not to be ever fulfilled.  
But, if, inconceivably, there was a being so immensly mighty as to be able to revive the deads, what would you be willing to sacrifice to get it?  
How much pain are you willing to cause, just to see again the person you care for?  
_If he's someone you really love ..._

* * *

**~The Phoenix~**

**Prologue**

The moon was high in the sky, and the light filtering through the clouds of dust gave to the battlefield looks surreal.

On the top of a skyscraper, a boy was thrown against the massive television antenna, his sword slipped away from his hand.

"You won't obtain anything acting like this, kid." The woman walked over to him, her long black hair flowed animated by the wind.

"I… told you" he panted, while a trickle of blood ran down his forehead. - The successor of Clow… is me." He tried to stand up, slightly groaning in pain, but his legs wouldn't move.

"Don't talk nonsense." huffed the woman. She bent over him "Tell me who he is."  
The boy saw the lie wouldn't hold more. "Never" he said defiantly "Kill me, rather."

The woman smirked "I could do it, you know? But then you'd be of no use to me." Shaoran gritted his teeth in anger and frustration, . She lifted his chin with her fingers. Staring into his brown-amber eyes, she said: "I respect you, Shaoran Li. I never wanted it to come to this. But you have forced my hand."

Her gaze of fire seemed to get more intense, as if she was trying to run him through.  
"Wha-..?"

Suddenly it was as if his head was splitting in two, the boy wanted to scream with all his strength, but his body didn't respond anymore. As she penetrated his mind, he saw his memories scroll behind his shut eyelids, until they stopped to the image of a beautiful girl. The girl slowly turned toward him, she winked and she pulled out of her school uniform's coat's pocket a deck of pink cards. Then, a name: _Sakura_. The young man felt a surge of satisfaction coming from the mind of his opponent, before it retired.

He fell to his knees, coughing breathlessly. He clenched his fists. _Damn it, no! _

Lifting up his eyes, he realized that the woman was leaving. "What are you going to do, Shinobu?!" Shaoran asked, he got up with difficulty. He just _couldn't_ let that witch get to _her_. "I'm not done yet!"

"I have no interest in killing you, kid." The witch replied calmly, turning her head slightly toward him, who could barely stood still leaning on the metal girder. "Who I want is that girl. And then, face it, you wouldn't be able to stop me even if a hundred years had passed.." She then turned, her body starting to glow as she used magic to hover in the air from the rooftop.

"Maybe I can't get rid of you…" he muttered "But I won't… I won't let you hurt her!"  
With strength taken from who knows where, maybe from despair, he recovered his sword and with a fast twist of the wrist he evoked a magic seal under Shinobu, blocking her spell.  
She turned around, crimson eyes widened in astonishment. "What are you doing?!"  
"If you think I'll let you do what you want, think again!" the boy snarled. "Raitei Shourai!" he shouted, and from the sword he held parallel to the ground many lighting left and surrounded the woman. Shaoran pronounced a few words in Chinese, eyes shut in concentration, he took the sword with both hands and slammed it to the ground. A huge bolt of lightning sprang from the point of contact, making a high arc before crashing down into the centre of the magic symbol with a roar, right where Shinobu was. Some other bolts departed from the main lightning, reaching the ideograms on the tips of the magic circle. When the dazzling light went out, in her place there was only an ebony stone tablet, engraved with the same magic symbol.

Shaoran was panting, struggling to take air. The seal had taken too much energy from him. He fell to his knees, painfully holding on to the sword. _At least… at least I gained a little time… _

He weakly smiled to himself, then he collapsed to the ground, and the darkness surrounded him.

* * *

**So here it ends the prologue! Please tell me if you want me to continue! Reviews are much appreciated! :D **


	2. A letter to say goodbye

**Here it is the first chapter! I'm sorry for taking so long to upload it, actually I couldn't decide whether keep it the way I've written it at the beginning or change it. The change would have affected also the 2nd chapter and maybe also the 3rd... well since I have pratically ****_no time_**** for writing and I'm still stuck with the 9th chapter in the Italian version I decided to keep it like this. Geeze, how could I have written something so ****_dull_****. It's horrible. Sorry. **

**Waaaah I wish I could rewrite everything T_T 24 hours in a day are not enough! **

**...enjoy! :°D**

* * *

**~The Phoenix~**

**Chapter 1: A letter to say Goodbye**

Sakura Kinomoto woke up suddenly. She sat up on the bed, panting, her green eyes wide open in the attempt to drive out of mind those images. That dream again. _Him_ again.

Aware that she would never be able to go back to sleep, she slipped out of the bed, slowly as not to wake up the little orange pet which was sleeping soundly on the pillow. She sat at her desk, holding her head in her hands, fingers grasping strands of auburn hairs. For a long time at night she had seen the same images: a tall figure, a boy with a long Chinese sword, then a blinding light, and he who fell to the ground never to raise again.

She picked up the deck of pink cards from the shelf, she held it to her chest, seeking comfort in the spirits of her Cards. Nothing, as usual. They were really worried for their Master, she could feel it, but they didn't want to talk to her. As if they were... disappointed.

_Beep_.

The alarm clock marked the one o'clock. Sakura stood up, sighing at the thought that the next day she had to go to school. She needed to sleep, but she was afraid of her nightmare.

Her gaze landed immediately on the letter lying on the bedside. Tears went up in her eyes as she recalled those words. Along with a huge rage. She took it in her hands, reading it for the umpteenth time. It had become almost a ritual, so that she knew it by heart.

_Sakura,_

_When you'll read this letter I'll already be gone. I have to go back to Hong Kong, for reasons that, for now, I can't reveal you, also because not even I'm completely aware of them. I'm so sorry I left you once again without even say goodbye, but I had no choice. Please, __**please**__ don't do anything crazy, __don't follow me__. I'll be back, I promise; forgive me if you can. I love you. So much you can't imagine. _

_Shaoran _

The words, written quickly, were smeared in several places, because of the tears she had shed reading them. Now she was itching for rip that piece of paper, but she couldn't do it because… because that letter was the only thing left of him, along with a small black teddy bear.

Shaoran Li was originally her rival in capturing the cards, but with time, by dint of helping each others, they had became great friends, until they had fell in love. After the troubles due to the Cards were over, he had to go back to Hong Kong, his hometown. He was back a couple of years after, with the promise not to leave her anymore. And just a year after he had gone again. And now that promise stung her terribly.

But after a short time Shaoran had left, all contacts with the city went down, all the flight to it deleted. No one knew anything about it. It was as if Hong Kong had never existed. Moreover everyone, she and her guardians Kerberos and Yue, sensed a strong magical power coming from the southwest. It has been now two years that there hadn't been any news.

And she… she was terrified for Shaoran. Terrified that something had happened to him.

And what did her best friend, she thought angrily, she continued to say that everything was fine! Everything was definitely _not_ fine, and that dream was the proof of it. But while Sakura was consuming in worry, life went on, and the next day her second year in high school would still begun. The last desperate attempt Tomoyo had made to lift her moral up had happened that night, on a phone call.

Sakura appreciated her attempts, but when she had heard the phone ring, she had thought, desperately, that it was Shaoran who finally was able to contact. Obviously she was wrong.

Gloomy, she wrapped herself in the sheets. A sob escaped from her throat, her hearth aching. A tear of sadness and anger rolled down her cheek, drawing a perfect circle on the pillow.

_Shaoran, where are you?_

* * *

**...stupid me. _ **

**I hope you liked it anyway, Thank you so much for the followers and the reviews I received for the first chapter! Review this too? *pleading eyes* **

**Next chapter will be looooonger and remember this:**

**I'm. not. good. at. suspence. **

**xD **

**See yah next time! **


	3. Surprise

**Hello! How are you doing, people? Nothing much to say today, I hope you will like this chapter because I've had a lot of fun writing it! Enjoy!**

* * *

**~The Phoenix~**

**Chapter 2: Surprise... Welcomed. More or Less**

Fog. Buildings with blurry edges, but vaguely familiar. A face in the mist, a sad-looking boy faced her.

"Sh…Shaoran?"

The boy turned and slowly walked away, gradually fading.

"Shaoran! Wait!" She tried to ran after him, but she just didn't move from where she was.

_Leave…_

Sakura stopped running, puzzled.

_Go away…_

_"_Sakura!"

The boy kept vanishing more and more.

"Shaoran no… don't go…!"

"Sakura! C'mon wake up, it's late!"

She no longer saw him…

"No, please…"

Suddenly the fog thinned out on two people close to each other… very close…

"Sakura, wake up dammit!" small hands slapped her face.

"Ah!" Sakura sat up suddenly, throwing the poor Kerberos out of the bed. A dream. Just a dream. Different from the one of a few hours before, but equally appalling. And it seemed so real… inexplicably, she was glad she didn't see the end.

"What's gotten into you today?" the guardian yelled, getting up in the air and perching on her knees with imperious frown "Hurry up, it's already half past seven!"

Sakura looked at him dazed. "Huh?" Apart from the dream, she was sleepy like one who would sleep until lunch time. Then she realized the awful truth: she had to go to school!

"Oeeh! It's so late! Where is my uniform? Where is it? Kero-chan, have you seen my uniform? God, its' so late! Ah, there, it was under the bed… Bye Kero! I'm going!" With crooked bow tie and still half-matted hair, she hurtled down the stairs. Kerberos was still recovering from the shock of the girl's sudden return to reality.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, Sakura was darting in the street on her roller. Since Touya, her brother, and Yukito, his friend, had finished the high school and so they didn't go down that street anymore, getting to school took less time because she didn't play around with them, but waking up was still a shock. And then… that dream… what did it mean? It has been a long time since she had learnt to pay attention to her visions, but she couldn't tell if that was an ordinary dream, or better, a nightmare, or a premonitory dream. Sakura was tormented by doubts. Who was that other person? Why had Shaoran told her to leave? With that pestered voice that didn't even seem to be his then, and those sad eyes…

_Gosh, I thought Eriol said I wouldn't have had premonitory dreams anymore…_

* * *

Lost in thought, she almost didn't realize to be arrived at school. She turned up into the classroom with a perfect five-minutes delay. The teacher and her mates turned to her.

"Oh no!" the girl struggled "I'm sorry for the delay, teacher, I…"

Tomoyo, from her seat near the window, looked at her amused, visibly waiting for something. The teacher smiled, benevolent: "It's fine for today, it's the first day and I haven't started the lesson yet… by the way, this is…"

Apparently Sakura did exactly what her friend was expecting, because Tomoyo assumed a satisfied look. She fell silent, staring at the person beside the teacher.

An handsome tall boy, with amber eyes and chocolate-brown hair gazed back at her.

Shaoran Li faced her, smiling shyly.

* * *

Sakura didn't realize immediately who was in front of her: after all this time, seeing him as if he had always been there was disconcerting. Actually, he had changed, phisically. He was much taller, his shoulder were wider and his jaw line had grown stronger. But he had the same messy mop of brown hair, the same deep amber eyes. The same tender half smile. She remained staring at him for those that seemed ages, and felt like a bubble of joy swelling up in her heart, along with a strong desire of crying. She was tempted to run to hug him, to make sure that was not just an illusion, a dream. Only with a great effort she managed to compose herself. But that moment of hesitation made turn that feeling of joy into the same rage she had felt reading the letter. How did he _dare_ to come back like this, without even a call, after all this time? Thus, when Shaoran attempted a shy greeting; Sakura tightened the grip on her bag's shoulder strap, and went to her seat, slamming the bag on her desk without saying a single word.

"…from Hong Kong, but he's already been here, so some of you may already know him. So… where can you get? Ah yes, there is a free seat behind Kinomoto…"

As he walked toward her, Shaoran's expression reflected how much he was upset and regretful. He opened his mouth to say something, but Sakura turned the other side and pouted without even look at him.

* * *

Several times Shaoran tried to talk with Sakura, with no results. At the end he simply observed her during the lesson, so stubbornly determined to ignore him. He felt a boulder instead of his heart. He had supposed it wouldn't have been easy, that Sakura could have hated him for leaving without saying anything, but it hurt anyway. Because the fault was _his_, and he knew it. He had been a total _coward_. The bell rang for lunch, he didn't have time to stand up that she had already headed towards the courtyard with firm step, without deigning him of a look.

"Sakura, wait a minute…" he begged, but she was already gone. He reached her in the yard and he put a hand on her shoulder "Sakura"

She spun around and slapped him sonorously. She kept silent, drawing back her hand, her green eyes lit with anger. Then she walked past him and sat on a bench nearby.

Dazed, he placed an hand on his cheek, where Sakura had slapped him. It didn't hurt, he was just… confused. "What did happen to her..?" he whispered, asking more to himself than to others. Tomoyo joined him, looking at Sakura in worry.

"Oh, well, let's say she has worried a lot for you… and… I'm always supposing uh, I don't think she has taken very good the fact you left, and came back, without telling her." she said tauntingly, glancing at the boy beside her.

"Let's say she took it very badly." he replied, distraught.

"Oh…" she groaned, looking back at Sakura "I thought a surprise would have pleased her…"

Sakura, who had heard everything, leapt up muttering something not too friendly and strode towards them, wrathful. "AH, IT'S THAT RIGHT? SO YOU WERE IN AGREEMENT NOT TO TELL ME ANYTHING! _GOOD_! TOMOYO I WOULD HAVE NEVER EXPECTED THIS FROM YOU!"

Tomoyo was shocked "I'm sorry Sakura, but…"

"THE HELL 'BUT'! AND _YOU_!" Sakura barked, beside herself, pointing her finger at Shaoran like she was cursing him. "_TWO YEARS_! TWO YEARS WITHOUT A HECK OF CALL! IT HASN'T EVEN… CROSSED YOUR MIND HOW I COULD HAVE BEEN! FIRST YOU LEAVE THAT WAY, AND THEN YOU COME BACK HERE LIKE NOTHING HAPPENED! HAVE YOU GOT THE FAINTEST IDEA OF HOW MUCH I'VE WORRIED? _HAVE YOU GOT IT_?!"

Shaoran was annihilated "Sakura, I…"

"Shut up! Go away!" she burst out, her throat ached for the yelling; on the edge of crying, she turn her back on him and she started walking away.

Shaoran shook himself. He couldn't let her go like that, not after all he had went through. He grabbed her arm, pulling her close to him.

Sakura tried to wiggle out of his grasp "Let me go! Stay away from me, I…"

"Let me explain, listen to me, please…"

"I'm _not_ going to listen to you!" she turned to him, eyes filled with tears of wrath "_You left me!_ When you promised not to! Without even say a word, you just gave me that _damn_ letter! I _changed _because of you, did you know that? What _the hell _were you expecting when you came here? Me to run to you singing 'welcome back' with a tray of cookies?" Shaoran winced. Sakura took her breath shakily, hanging her head down. "And I… all this time without knowing if you were fine, not being able to see you… I just can't-…" she choked, slightly trembling.

"I don't know… what to think…anymore."

Shaoran lifted a hand to caress her cheek, but then he stopped, fearing to worsen the situation. How could he have been so _idiot?_ "Forgive me, please… I..." then he sighed, letting her go. He glanced down, "I-If you don't want… to see me anymore, I understand." he whispered. The girl didn't answer, nor looked at him. His heart clenched "…maybe I should go."

A sudden fear, fear of seeing him disappearing again at any moment overwhelmed Sakura, who grabbed him before he could even only think to move. "No!" she screamed. She hugged him tightly and buried her face against his chest, bursting into a desperate cry. After a moment of astonishment, Shaoran wrapped his arms around her shaking shoulders and held her close. "I'm sorry-" he whispered among her hair, the voice broken from the emotion. "_I'm sorry_" he repeated "you have no… _idea_ how much I missed you."

She simply tightened her grip harder. Slowly, the sobs subsided, but she remained crushed to him. "…Shaoran" she managed to choke out, too happy to hear his _voice_ to be able to say anything.

"I'm here."

Sakura smiled a real smile, her face still buried in his shirt, for the first time after years.

* * *

As expected, it was time for an explanation.

"Shaoran, won't you tell us what happened? I mean, all this time without contacts… something has happened in Hong Kong, right?" Sakura asked.

The three friends were walking in the park, after school. Tomoyo looked glad at the couple, they walked arm in arm, happy, while she was carrying a large colorful bag.

"It's… a long story…" He replied, not too happy to start that speech. He just wanted to stay there and hug her.

"Well, we have time." the girl pressed.

"Not really!" Tomoyo said, pointing at the sky "Look, it's going to rain!" In fact, the sky was streaked with dark clouds that didn't promise anything good.

"Oh, you're right" Sakura exclaimed "…hear, why don't you come dine at my place? So we can talk about it. Both my father and Touya are not at home today."

"If it's not a problem…"

Tomoyo was delighted "It's perfect! So you can try the battle outfits I've ready for you two… I've passed last night tailoring after Li phoned me!"

Sakura and Shaoran sweatdropped, staring at her.

"Uhm… Tomoyo… maybe I've not understood well… do you mean you made one also for me?" He asked, hoping he had misheard.

"Of course! You're a team after all!" Tomoyo exclaimed as it was an obvious thing. "Cardcaptor Sakura and the _Chinese Warrior_!" she declaimed, entranced.

Hearing his new epithet, Shaoran blushed to the roots of his hair. "T-Tomoyo… please, _don't-"_ he coughed, practically dying of embarrassment.

Suddenly, he felt a dead weight in his arm "Sakura? What is it?! _Sakura_!"

The girl had suddenly collapsed on him, falling unconscious.

* * *

**Oh, yes. As I said, suspence is not my strong point *apologizes* Well actually what's happened in Hong Kong is not ****_that_**** important (for now) The time for explanation will come next time! :D **

**I have to say I had a lot of fun when I wrote Sakura's outburst of rage XD I don't think she is that kind of girl that, indeed, "run to him with a tray of cookies saying 'welcome home'". I hope you liked this chapter, actually I don't like very much the ending, but I needed to cut the scene somehow! Tomoyo has always that crazy mind of her xD **

**I pretty.. hate this thing that one can't put an empty line as paragraph divider. I don't want to use that grey line D: **

**Thank you so much for the comments, the favs and the followers! :D Review please? *^*  
**


	4. Wizards of the Past

**I'm back! Sorry for taking so long to upload this chapter, I went to Barcelona for a school trip and I came back only last night! How are you doing? **

* * *

**~The Phoenix~**

**Chapter 3: Wizards of the past**

Darkness. Cold.

"…Where am I?"

Distant voices are calling her, in worry. She tries to answer, to find a way out. "Shaoran! Tomoyo!"

She runs.

"Shaoran! Where are you?"

But in the place she is struck a thick, suffocating obscurity reigns, there is no way out.

"Finally I've found you, Card Mistress."

Sakura halts and glances around, eyes open wide in fear. "Who are you? S-show yourself!"

An evanescent figure takes shape in front of the girl, it seems made of shimmering flames. The voice, a woman voice, chuckles.

"Who am I?" she giggles "Ah ah, _come on_… you _really_ don't know?" Sakura stares her in confusion.

"Wait for me, my dear, because I'm coming to take what I am due… and unfortunately only you own it, little girl."

Tongues of fire detach from the figure and gently wrap around the scared girl, brushing against her skin as to caress her. "Nani… what do you mean? Who are you?! Tell me your name!"

"I'll ask you nicely: could you lend me your Cards, please?" the woman asks, with a sort of pleading look in her voice, as a child asks for candies.

"_I said tell me your name_." Sakura repeats ignoring the request, trying to sound firm.

"Are you sure it will be of any use?" the woman smirks "But yeah, I don't see why we can't follow the standards of education. My name is Shinobu, little girl, and since you're at it, say hello for me to your boyfriend… oh, and I _need_ the Cards. So I will take them. Konbanwa, Sakura-chan."

The figure begins to fade, the light to disappear.

"M-Matte! Tell me more! What do you want from me?!"

The woman vanishes completely.

Sakura is left alone in the darkness, which soon engulfs her.

ooo000ooo000ooo

Sakura slowly came back to reality. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself in the small recess under the Penguin Slide in the park, lying in Shaoran's arms. It was raining hard outside. He and Tomoyo looked at her in worry.

"Sakura! Thank goodness… are you alright?"

"How are you, my friend?"

Sakura sat up, her expression hidden by the hairs. "I'm fine, don't worry." She turned to the boy, eyes still filled with fear. "Shaoran, who… who is Shinobu?"

* * *

The rain poured down outside the recess where they were, but a patch of sky began to glimpse through the clouds and the treetops turned red for the sunset light.

Sakura didn't notice the sight, she was staring at Shaoran, waiting for an answer.

He was visibly nervous.

"So what?"

"H-how do you know Shinobu?"

"I've just dreamed of her. I think you owe me an explanation."

Tomoyo was confused "What? What's happening?"

Sakura kept staring at Shaoran, who sighed and ran a hand over his face.

"Yeah, I think so. Let's go home, I'll tell you everything."

ooo000ooo000ooo

"Well…how do I start…"

"Wait a minute, Li-kun; I'll take the camera to record everything" Tomoyo said.

The three of them were sitting on the couches in Kinomoto's house's living room, in front of a cup of steaming tea.

Sakura had spent the last ten minutes – the time needed to walk from the park to her house – reassuring Tomoyo, who wouldn't stop asking if she was ok. As soon as they walked into the house, the auburn-haired girl had ran upstairs to call Kero-chan, but she had founded him soundly asleep over the joystick of the console, so she had come down, in frustration.

_She will never change…_ she thought with a mixture of resignation and amusement looking at her friend, while Shaoran glared at Tomoyo who was rummaging around in her bag. "Done!" she exclaimed, after the camera was accurately placed on the couch's arm.

Shaoran took a deep breath. "Uhm… so, you know that Clow Reed was one of the most powerful magicians on the earth…"

"Wasn't he the greatest?" Sakura interrupted, pulling her legs up on the couch she shared with the boy and hugging her knees.

"Yes, but" he went on "there were plenty of wizards at the time, in disguise. A Council made up of the most influential and powerful of them was created, Clow was one of them. The Council had the responsibility for monitor the other mages' behaviour, so that someone wouldn't suddenly decide to… well.. going too far. Being discovered by the common people would've been a problem, you know? The era of witch-hunting was still a bad memory, and they didn't want to provoke more violence. For a long time there weren't particular problems. Until Clow decided to take on an apprentice."

"Clow had an apprentice? Kero and Yue never mentioned it!"

"This is because it happened before had created them. The name of the apprentice was Reijiro, and for the first years he was an impeccable magician. Ho owned an innate talent for magic, along with an alarming hunger for power. For this reason, Clow decided to stop being his teacher, worried because he was becoming more and more powerful. Reijiro left and he didn't be seen again for about ten years."

"When did he create the Cards?" Tomoyo asked, intrigued.

"I think during this period, but I don't know why. You know, he was a kind of eccentric man… but my mother says he already knew what was going to happen in the future." Shaoran took a sip of tea "Meanwhile, the Council had split. As it was foreseen, a lot of wizard withdrew their loyalty to it, which continued to imprison the opponents. Clow tried to restore the confidence, trying to convince the other members to act more moderately, but he didn't succeed. To make things worse, Reijiro came back, not alone this time. There was a woman with him, almost as powerful as him."

"Shinobu?"

"Shinobu." he confirmed "In addition to a lot of other lesser wizards tired of a government which didn't allow them to live freely. I don't know much about her, but she was… kinda his right-hand man. Some people say she was in love with him. What the chronicles report is that they trusted blindly each other. However, the rebellion took place for a couple of months, until the Council gave the order to kill Reijiro."

"And did they do it?" Sakura asked.

Shaoran nodded "Not right away. Clow had tried many times to settle down the fight without getting anyone hurt. But at the end Reijiro was killed."

"…Who killed him?"

Shaoran placed his elbows on his knee, gazing down "Clow." he muttered.

"N-nani?" Tomoyo gasped. Sakura looked at him in disbelief _It's not… possible._ The boy lifted up his eyes, reassuring her with a little smile. "It was an accident: as I said before, Clow was against the verdict, and he joined the expedition to try to reason with both factions. There was a fight, and Reijiro died."

"Then… how do we know it was him?"

"Because he admitted it."

"Oh." the silence fell among them, after a few moments Tomoyo asked "What became of Shinobu?"

"She was upset, for the death of her beloved, and… from what I know she has decided to revenge on Clow…" he looked like he was going to say something more, but then he continued "Anyway, even though she had become very powerful, Clow was still the greatest wizard of the time. When she found him, he managed to seal her."

"Just a seal?"

"I told you. Clow was a very strange person, he must have had his reason. The fact is that almost two years ago the seal weakened, and Shinobu broke free. That's why I had to leave, Sakura." He uttered the last sentence gazing at the girl, eyes filled with a mixture of apologies, regret and guilt.

She looked away. "And what I got to do with it, anyway?" She asked.

Shaoran sighed, he hung his head down. "When she found out that Clow was dead, Shinobu started looking for his heir... that is you. Obviously she didn't find you in Hong Kong. At first she thought it was me, because of my family, but she knew Clow had created the Cards and so she realized she had got wrong, because I don't use that power. I tried to pull the rope as long as possible to keep her from getting to you…but at the end she found out who you are." He clenched his fists "…but at least I was able to seal her again before she could come here..."

Sakura tightened the grasp around her legs, a gentle warmth filling her heart. "You did everything… for me?" she whispered, still not looking at him.

Shaoran blushed. "…but It won't last for a long time… my skills are still too weak to fight Shinobu. My mother is keeping the seal now, so for a while we can relax."

"Oh, and then, the question of the interrupted communications?" Tomoyo asked.

"Shinobu was able to completely isolate the city. All ordinary people have forgotten of the world outside, and we couldn't leave Hong Kong in the grip of that witch. Then, after I sealed her, about a year ago, my family has been busy with the restoration of the city. We decided to maintain the state of isolation for a while, until the situation wouldn't came back to normality. That's why I couldn't get in touch with you, I'm sorry Sakura."

The silence fell once more. Sakura hesitated a moment, then she rested her head on Shaoran's shoulder, he wrapped his arm around her waist. Tomoyo turned off the camera.

Suddenly Sakura had a bad, indeed, very bad feeling. As if something inside her had disappeared. She lifted her face, looking at Shaoran, she spoke with an optimism she hadn't. "Listen Shaoran… How is Meilin doing?"

The boy clenched his fists. He knew she would have asked it sooner or later. They were friends at heart. But he didn't want to relive those moments, no, he wouldn't tell everything. It was after several seconds, and with the death in his heart that he answer.

"Sakura… Tomoyo… well, Meilin is…"

He took a deep breath, as the two girls looked at him in curiosity.

"…she's dead."

* * *

**Papparappappa! Shockin' news! I hope you liked this chapter! It'll take a little longer to upload the new one because I still have to translate it. Reviews are welcomed! **


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